Should Israel invade Gaza?

Unless you've been living under a bridge for the last couple weeks, you should be aware that things have heated up with a huge increase in rocket attacks from Gaza into urban areas in Israel, launched by Hamas Palestinians. Israel has been replying with air strikes that have killed civilians because the missiles have been sourced in residential areas.

Israel is now talking about the need to put boots on the ground in Gaza pretty much going house-to-house, which will likely kill even more civilians.

Attempts are underway to bring about a diplomatic solution, but assuming the future will look like the past, many would argue that's a waste of time.

Replies to This Discussion

It's a very bad idea for Israel to invade at this point as the leadership in Egypt is already hesitant to defend the very unpopular peace treaty it has with Israel. There is also ongoing unrest in Jordan, and Lebanon is destabilizing. The only possible "upside" is that it may reduce the tension in Syria as the parties their refocus their anger at Israel, and Assad has been good at keeping the lid on the pressure cooker. Add to that the UN and EU public relations backlash to the inevitable blood bath in Gaza.

I suspect it's a feint to put pressure on Hamas and force them into an agreement which can have an actual impact on the number of rockets fired. Forgot to add that there's an upcoming election in Israel which Bibi has on the box, and an invasion could quickly change his fortunes.

A part of me wants Israel to invade and just get the whole damn thing over, of course it may make things worse but who knows. What was god thinking when he acting as a real estate dealer to his chosen people?

I always liked this quote:

"The main danger which Israel, as a 'Jewish state', poses to its own people, to other Jews and to its neighbours, is its ideologically motivated pursuit of territorial expansion and the inevitable series of wars resulting from this aim...No Zionist politician has ever repudiated the idea that Israeli policies must be based (within the limits of practical considerations) on the restoration of Biblical borders as the borders of the Jewish state."

From a strategic point of view I don't see what use there is to firing imprecise missiles from densely populated neighbourhoods in to other towns and cities hoping to make civil casualties.

A response to these attacks means firing somewhat more precise ordinance in to those densely populated areas. Yes, there are going to be civilian casualties even with higher precision. Should Israel not defend themselves against Hamas who cleverly set up their rocket launchers in those densely populated areas?

Civil casualties make for saucy headlines in the media and grab lots of attention and support. Pictures of children blown apart by bombs that were intended for the weapons that they were living on top of makes for great propaganda material. Fact of the matter is that war isn't pretty.

Hamas and a hand full of countries in that region have vowed the total annihilation of the Jewish state. Hate is preached on a daily basis and will forever continue on until their goal is reached. Not only the Nazi's had that goal in mind.

Should they invade? That is a highly difficult question to answer. Does Hamas expect support from Iran, maybe even with nuclear attacks? Is there support from other countries to expected should Israel invade? How many civil casualties are reasonable? What will be the long term effect should Israel manage to rid Gaza of all weaponry.

The fact is that it is only a matter of time until the weapons are being imported back in to Gaza and the attacks will start a new. It is a never ending battle between ideologies that will never be at peace with each other.

What I find more disturbing is that Anonymous has entered the fray. So far they seemed to be somewhat noble in their attempts to shake big companies up a bit. It seems now that Anonymous has chosen to support the extinguishing of the Jewish state and it makes me question the political agenda of said group. Is it even Anonymous that has chosen to enter the political realm and mess with country politics?

Religion is not rational or logical. How could anyone in their right mind think that these people are going to reach a peaceful solution. History has shown us time and again that religion demands unwavering reverence to it's dogma and intolerance of anyone who disagrees. The necessary result is bloodshed and war. Today across our globe countless numbers die daily from this insanity. It is the great scourge of mankind. I have become numb to the senseless deaths of these religious zealots.

Seems to me the Jews are yet again a victim of their own manufactured religion which has properties that can only result in these kind of problems. One of the most troublesome property is their exclusiveness of being God chosen people. It means you can only become a Jew if your born into it. Its logical consequence is that it will create envy from any group of people that do not belong to this exclusive club but would like to. Islam and Christianity are basically a direct result from this exclusiveness rule. To receive also gods grace, both group must essentially deny the Jews claim of still being Gods only choosing people. The Christians do it by accusing the Jews of killing their spiritual king and son of God Jesus Christ, the Muslim do it by accusing the Jews not accepting Mohamed the messenger as a the final prophet of God. As long as people let them self to be controlled by these religions, the systematic problems of the Jewish people will persist.